


Stage Lights and Stage Fights

by doiedays



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Fluff and Angst, M/M, Making a kpop group, Rivals to Lovers, Swearing, Things not said but implied, This is a competition, Verbal Fighting, Yuta is kinda impulsive, collection of moments, survival reality show
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-05
Updated: 2021-02-05
Packaged: 2021-03-17 02:35:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,405
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29218068
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/doiedays/pseuds/doiedays
Summary: "Aren't you here to be an idol? If you can't dance or take criticism then I think you should've picked a different profession." Yuta said through clenched teeth.The guy didn't reply as he knocked his shoulder into Yuta. He stomped out the door and closed it with a slam. The sound echoed around the room. 'Maybe I was too harsh on him,' thought Yuta. He turned back towards the others in the room when he heard one of them call out to him."Dude, why did you say that? That guy was Kim Doyoung! You know his brothers fucking famous right? You're going to get yourself in trouble!"
Relationships: Kim Dongyoung | Doyoung/Nakamoto Yuta
Comments: 4
Kudos: 59
Collections: doyochi fest round one





	Stage Lights and Stage Fights

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt #005
> 
> This is my first time I've ever finished a fic and I'm honestly proud of the result!
> 
> It was definitely not as easy as I thought at first, but I had fun writing it!

Episode 1.

The stage lights were blinding, the speakers were blasting, it was a very _loud_ display. 

Yuta stood backstage going through the steps as he waited for his turn on stage. He practiced so much it was ingrained into his body, still, being so close to his dream is enough for his anxiety to flare up.

He's never really been a religious person, but he feels like praying now. A staff member comes over as he finishes that thought.

"You're up in six minutes." They say and leave just as quickly.

  
  
  
  
  


Episode 2.

Yuta doesn't really like the song they have to learn. He doesn't know if it's okay to say it, so he'll keep it in his thoughts. The moves aren't too hard but they were only given a few days to learn both routine and lyrics.

His group has finally taken a break when they first talk.

Throughout the day, Yuta noticed one of the guys made the same mistake over and over again. He could tell the others wanted to curse at him but were too afraid to say something. So, Yuta took it upon himself to help the team.

The boy was leaning against a corner of the room, away from the others sprawled on the middle of the floor. He watched as Yuta casually strode up to him.

"How long have you been a trainee?" Yuta asked.

The boy looked towards the mirror, "three years, I think…"

"Three years and you can't even learn the simplest of steps? I don't even know why they let you in if this is showing three years of work." Yuta may be a _little_ frustrated.

The guy glared back and stood from his slouching position.

"Yeah? And who are you to think you know what I've been through? At least I can actually sing and not put as the designated rapper."

The room which was hot from their activities before, became cold as ice. The silence was deafening, the others in the room barely moved an inch.

"Aren't you here to be an idol? If you can't dance or take criticism then I think you should've picked a different profession." Yuta said through clenched teeth.

The guy didn't reply as he knocked his shoulder into Yuta. He stomped out the door and closed it with a slam. The sound echoed around the room. _'Maybe I was too harsh on him,'_ thought Yuta. He turned back towards the others in the room when he heard one of them call out to him.

"Dude, why did you say that? That guy was Kim Doyoung! You know his brothers fucking famous right? You're going to get yourself in trouble!"

"Kim Doyoung? Don't think I've ever heard about him or his brother…" Yuta grumbled to himself as the others started to talk to themselves. 

  
  
  
  
  


Episode 3.

It seems his argument with that Doyoung guy spread around to the other trainees. Every time he enters a room he can hear them whispering about him. It's become much harder to focus when there's so much noise all the time.

"Hey, isn't that guy Nakamoto Yuta? He's the one who fought with Kim Doyoung,"

"Seriously? But he doesn't look all that special to me. He's probably gonna be eliminated."

"I know right?"

Yuta just kept walking, can't let everything said about him stop him from making it to the top. He grabs a water bottle from their kitchen area and an energy bar as a snack. He rips the wrapper off and takes a bite, trying to zone out the people around him. He's so focused, he doesn't notice when the chatter dies down.

An arm reaches across from him and grabs a water bottle as well. He looks to his side and gets startled. 

It's Kim Doyoung. 

He doesn't seem to be paying attention as he casually takes a drink of the water. His eyes wander until he meets Yuta's, and almost immediately after, Doyoung starts to glare at him. 

"What? Can't handle being in the same room as me?" Asked Yuta.

Doyoung sneered in response, "You're an asshole."

Yuta chuckled at that, finding joy in his expression. He touched Doyoung's shoulder as he walked past. "Right back at ya."

  
  
  
  
  


Episode 4.

"Stop! Taeho, you aren't following the gestures correctly. We'll have to go through it again, and Doyoung, make sure to lift your feet on time with the beat." The makeshift leader spoke from the front of the formation.

Due to unfortunate circumstances, Yuta and Doyoung ended up on the same team. So far, it hasn't been a complete disaster, but the tension in the air could be cut with a knife. It didn't help that the rest of the members looked at them like they would explode any moment. Which, if Yuta had to go through the same set of moves one more time, he just might.

The mirror reflects their movements as they dance in time with the music. It's looking better than it was before, and there hasn't been any mistakes just yet. They're finally getting to the climax when it happens.

The group is getting back together after changing their formation when Yuta feels an arm slap him in the face. The pain doesn't register as much as the shock of it happening. He puts his hand on the part that was hit and looks to his side to see Doyoung's smug face.

"Hah, serves you right."

Yuta's eyes widen in shock as he stares, dumbfounded, at what he's seeing. He's quick to get just as angry though, and he has to remind himself of the cameras watching them in the room before he gets ahead of himself.

"Can't even say sorry? You think you're so much better than me, huh? I don't wanna hear anything from someone riding on the coattails of his family's success."

That seems to wipe the expression off his face. His eyes darken with malice, his body pulled taut. Yuta may have made a mistake. Doyoung opens his mouth as if to respond but gets interrupted by one of the members, Johnny, he thinks.

"Alright everyone, let's not start fighting now. I know you guys are stressed about the performance but we can't take it out on eachother," Johnny glares between the two of them, "If this happens again, I'm not letting you back into this room. Do I make myself clear?"

Yuta and Doyoung look at eachother and back towards Johnny.

"Yes…" they say in unison.

Johnny raises an eyebrow at them. "I didn't hear any apologies."

For a man who looked so carefree and goofy before, he's surprisingly intimidating when angry.

Doyoung doesn't even look at Yuta's face when he mutters out his apology. Yuta sighs and responds in kind. _'So much for tolerating each other…'_ He thinks.

  
  
  
  


.

  
  
  
  


It's late.

The snores from his roommate is just background noise as he slips on his shoes and grabs his bag. He makes his way down the halls to where the practice rooms are. Technically, he's not allowed in there this late at night, but he really wants to practice his singing some more. A little friendly breaking and entering never hurt anyone. Yuta smirks to himself at the thought.

He gets closer to put his hand on the doorknob of one of the rooms when he hears a strange sound. Yuta looked around himself, but it was just as empty as it had been before. He turns back to the door when he hears it again. Putting both hands on the door, Yuta leans in with his ear against it. The sound of muffled sobbing can be heard through the door.

Yuta freezes.

What are you supposed to do when put into this position? Leave? Comfort the guy? Yuta heats up under the collar from embarrassment. _'I should probably leave…'_ He straightens his back and stands awkwardly in front of the door when he hears another sob.

_'Ah, God, I hope I won't regret this.'_ Thought Yuta, as he turned the knob and opened the door. An unexpected sight was revealed to his eyes. 

There Kim Doyoung sat, curled into himself against the wall as he cried into his arms. The sounds became so much clearer than before, he wasn't sure what to do. He moved his body forward and slowly closed the door from behind. The click of the door alerted Doyoung and he looked up in surprise.

It was heartbreaking.

His eyes red and puffy from use, tears continuing to fall, and the subtle shake of his hands. Yuta watched as Doyoung wiped his face on the sleeves of his shirt. He heard Doyoung take a deep breath before meeting his eyes again.

"What? Did you come here to insult me again?" He asked through his sniffles. Yuta never felt more awkward in his life. He stood back up from unconsciously leaning back on the door and slowly made his way over to Doyoung's side.

"No, I came here to practice when I heard you out in the hall." Yuta sat down next to Doyoung and glanced over at him.

"I didn't think anyone was going to come," muttered Doyoung, "I don't know why you're still here, don't you hate me?"

Yuta contemplated his answer for a bit before responding.

"I think you're annoying, but I don't hate you enough to leave you alone when you look like you need someone to stay."

It was silent. No sounds other than their breaths were heard after that. Yuta was picking at a loose thread in his pants when Doyoung let out a sigh. He leaned forward on his knee with a hand to his cheek, turned away from Yuta's eyes.

"My parents don't really support what I want to do with my life. They think I should get a more stable job and just give up on being an idol. My brother already made it in his career field, what’s the chance of their other son making it big as well? Next to none in their eyes..."

He could only stare.

"And they're right, aren't they? A boy who can't dance and can't make any friends even after all this time. What the hell made me think I could get anywhere like this…?"

Yuta frowned at that. "It's not that you _can't_ dance, you just need someone to teach you at your own pace. I've been watching you, so I know you have the potential. Besides, you're one of the best singers here. Your training wasn't all for nothing. I wish I could hit the notes you can but my voice just falls flat…"

Doyoung chuckles at that.

"Are you trying to comfort me?" He asks, turning his face so Yuta meets one of his eyes.

Yuta tilts his head to the side, "Is it working?"

Doyoung doesn't say anything, and instead, hugs his knees to his chest. It's silent again after that, but it feels much different than before. He feels more comfortable. Yuta glances over again and sees his eyes closed. He doesn't know if it's okay to ask but he will anyway.

"If you want…I could help you practice dancing?" He braces himself for rejection. Yuta was pretty harsh to Doyoung before, so he doesn't think Doyoung would want to spend more time with him.

There's more silence. He watches the boy open his eyes and slowly turn his way.

"Really?"

"Well, yeah, if you help me with my singing." Yuta added with a soft smile. Doyoung snorted in response.

"Deal."

  
  
  
  
  


Episode 5.

Yuta yawns for the sixth time, still tired from staying up so late practicing with Doyoung. He takes a bite of his breakfast and almost falls asleep while chewing again.

"Dude, why are you so tired? Couldn't sleep last night?" Asked Mark from beside him.

Yuta hums in response, too tired to answer in more words. The chatter from the other contestants is enough to distract his thoughts. He mindlessly stirs through his food when he hears it quiet down and looks up from his meal. There Doyoung stands, only a little ways from his table.

With his food, Doyoung walks past Yuta, but not without a 'good morning' in greeting. Yuta smiles at his behavior and replies with his own.

That seems to cause a bit of chaos from his fellow trainees. He can hear their curious whispers but nobody dares to ask Yuta what happened between them. Mark's curious gaze doesn't go unnoticed but he doesn't warrant an answer. He thinks about what Doyoung said last night and makes a mental note to talk to him later.

  
  
  
  


.

  
  
  
  


Yuta spots him near the vending machines while they're on break. 

He's focused on the phone in his hand, so he doesn't notice when Yuta creeps up behind him. Yuta leans forward and blows on his ear. He giggles when he sees Doyoung jolt so hard he almost drops his phone. At the sound, Doyoung turns around and glares.

"Why did you do that?! I almost dropped my phone!" Whines Doyoung.

"You were the one not paying attention." Yuta smirks in response. Doyoung huffs at that and crosses his arms. 

"Did you need something from me? You're awfully cheerful today."

"Oh, yeah!" Yuta exclaims, "do you seriously have no friends?" 

Doyoung sputters in response, his face gradually turning redder by the second. Embarrassed, he looks away, "Well, I do have some but none of them are _here_ …"

"Don't worry, you've got one now." Responds Yuta with a dazzling smile. 

He leaves after that. Doyoung, left shocked with his face still red, stares after his form. 

Only after getting back to the practice room does Yuta remember that he forgot to buy his drink.

  
  
  
  
  


Episode 6.

Yuta stares at the screen anxiously as he waits for the results to pop up. His hands grasped the hands of his teammates beside him. The sweat from his hair dripped down the side of his face. It was tense.

This performance was the one he was the most proud of since he got here. If he were to lose now, he would be so crushed. As he thought this, his hand was squeezed harder. He looked back up from his hand and saw the numbers jumbled together to give more suspense.

He gulped. 

And suddenly, as if it belonged there all along, the numbers shown brightly on the screen.

He screamed. His teammates screamed. They all jumped from their seats in happiness. He hugged the member beside him and squeezed tight. His eyes stung as if he were to cry but he held it back.

He was just getting started.

  
  
  
  
  


Episode 7.

It's another night of practice for them.

It's almost become a daily routine at this point. He practices with Doyoung until they're both too sore to move. At those times, they lay side by side, and stare at the ceiling to catch their breaths. 

Yuta has his eyes closed, ( _'I'm not sleeping I swear!')_ when he feels it.

A pinky latches onto his slowly. Yuta turns his face towards Doyoung, but he has his eyes closed as if to not acknowledge what he's doing. The lights are off on this night, only the moon shining through the window is enough to illuminate his face. He looks pretty like this.

Yuta turns back to the ceiling and closes his eyes as well.

His hand reaches out and entangles itself fully with Doyoung's.

  
  
  
  
  


Episode 8. 

"You've been hanging out with Doyoung so much lately." Mark says while catching the water bottle he was throwing in the air. 

They're finally on break after hours of nonstop practice. The choreography this time was particularly harder than the rest, so the break was much needed.

Yuta glances at Mark in suspicion. Mark hasn't said anything about Doyoung and him before this, so Yuta doesn't know what to expect. He laughs when he meets Yuta's eyes.

"What's with that face? A guy can't ask his friend about his other friends?" Mark's face is smug like he won something. Yuta lightly shoves him to the side and rolls his eyes.

"Not if you ask like that," Yuta watched as Mark got back up, "if you've got something to say then say it."

Mark had his legs spread out and moved his feet like a child.

"Are you guys dating?"

Yuta almost does a spit take but there's no water. He coughs a little to try and hide the blush he feels crawl up his cheeks. The question garners the attention of the other members in the room.

"Are you talking about Doyoung and Yuta? I was on a team with Doyoung before and I swear he only talked about Yuta. It was pretty funny." Interrupted Jungwoo. _'Curse you Mark and your loud voice!'_

"Seriously? Yuta never tells me anything! It's like he wants to keep it a secret, but I know they hang out behind everyone's backs!" Mark looks back at Yuta and pouts.

"You want information? You're going to have to pry it out of my cold dead hands." 

Jungwoo laughs at that, "Aw, Yuta, you don't have to be shy! I was in denial at some point in my life too but now I accept that I like-" he gets cut off there when Yuta throws the towel around his neck at the other boy's face.

Yuta stands up as he hears them laugh to themselves and gives a small smile too. They were a handful, but he really enjoyed the new friends he has made throughout the competition. Of course, he won't say it out loud.

  
  
  
  
  


Episode 9.

The staff decided to be kind to the trainees today with a break from their routine. 

He stood at one end of the mat, Doyoung on the other. They stared each other down as they waited for the ref to start the match. His team was on the verge of winning this game, only this final round to go. They got into position with bated breaths. 

The sharp sound of the whistle was the only thing he registered as he rushed forward and pushed into Doyoung. One-legged chicken fights were _made_ for Yuta to win. After only a few minutes, Doyoung fell back on the mat and sprawled out his limbs. Yuta's members cheered on the sidelines for their win while Yuta bent over to help him back up.

Doyoung took his outstretched hand with a gummy smile. It was very pretty. He walked off the mat with doyoung to let the next groups have their turn, still holding his hand. He only stopped when he noticed Jungwoo wiggling his eyebrows at them. Yuta made a face back at him and turned back towards Doyoung.

"How are you feeling?"

Doyoung glanced at him and hummed, "Happy, I didn't think I would have so much fun coming here. I almost didn't send in my audition but I'm glad I did."

Yuta thought about his words and leaned his head on Doyoung's shoulder. They watched as more of the other guys yelled and laughed during the games. It's amazing how far they've come.

Yuta nuzzled his face on Doyoung's shoulder, eyes closed, he whispered so only the other could hear.

"I'm glad I met you…"

His hand was grasped then. 

They didn't let go for a long time.

  
  
  
  
  


Episode 10.

The moon was their only witness.

Hushed whispers and lips brushing lips.

Hands held as if they were fragile.

Words not said but felt in their hearts.

  
  
  
  
  


Episode 11.

The stage lights were blinding, the speakers were blasting, it was an amazing display.

Yuta stood proudly in front of the fans he gained along the way and let out a big smile.

He did it. He truly did it!

The final stage clutched in his grasp. It was like a dream. He watched as more and more of his friends were called upon the stage. The screams of the audience pierced through the air.

Yuta looked back over and met his eyes. 

"Kim Doyoung," the announcer rang out.

At the sound of his name, Yuta took off in a sprint. Doyoung, tears in his eyes met him halfway. They hug right there. An embrace so tight, you'd think they've known each other their whole lives. 

The crowd screams grew impossibly louder. 

Even when they let go, they stick together. 

Hand in hand.

Shoulder to shoulder.

Yuta's smile couldn't possibly go wider.


End file.
